"In view of the nature and scale of U.S. military reinforcements, they are designed to make a pre-emptive strike against the DPRK," North Korean diplomat Ju Yong Chol told the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament, adding that Washington has been "deploying large nuclear assets" on the Korean peninsula.
"U.S. officials including the defense secretary and the CIA director repeatedly talked about DPRK nuclear and missile threat to justify their argument for a military option and a new concept of a so-called 'bloody nose', a limited pre-emptive strike on the DPRK is under consideration within the U.S. administration,"Pyongyang's envoy was quoted as saying by Reuters.
READ MORE: US Brings Strategic Assets 'Under Pretext of Olympics' in S Korea — Pyongyang
The accusations came in response to a statement made by US disarmament envoy, who said that North Korea's nuclear program must be "completely, verifiably and irreversibly eliminated".
As the envoy explained, Pyongyang was allegedly "maybe only months from the capability to strike the US with nuclear-armed ballistic missiles".
He went on by saying that North Korea, as well as Russia and China, is expanding its nucelar stickpiles "in some cases pursuing the development of new nuclear capabilities to threaten other peaceful nations".
Pyongyang has accused Washigton of hindreing its relations with South Korea, claiming that US President Donald Trump was scared of military capabilities of DPRK.
READ MORE: Pyongyang Accuses Trump of Hindering Efforts to Mend Ties With South
The relations between the US and DPRK have been quite tense since the Korean War ended in 1953: the both parties still haven't signed a peace treaty, have been steadily declining since the latter decided to unfreeze its nuclear armaments program. Ties between the two have deteriorated especially sharply since 2016, as North Korea performed multiple tests of its nuclear devices and ballistic missiles over the course of 2 years. During the ensuing crisis, the US has considered a preemptive nuclear strike, among other options ‘to resolve it'.
